


Cold Outings

by poor_sickies



Series: Bad Things Happen [11]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2019-10-20
Packaged: 2020-12-27 05:02:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21113087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poor_sickies/pseuds/poor_sickies
Summary: Keith and Lance suffer at a cold planet... and then suffer back at the castle when the cold gets back at them.





	Cold Outings

“I hate this s-stupid planet.”

Lance hugs his arms close, rubbing them up and down, trying to somehow block the dry cold wind that blows against him.

Keith lets out a humorless chuckle, moving forward hunched over himself, gritting his teeth as the relentless cold keeps hitting his skin through his clothes.

“I don’t t-think it matters” he says, “if you hate it or n-not. It’s just gonna keep being c-cold.”

“We’re almost t-to Red anyway. When I get to the castle, I’ll s-slip into a hot b-bath. And I’ll only leave after two hours.”

“Good for you,” Keith retorts, dragging his feet through the sloshy snow, “I just want some sleep.”

The Galra base they had returned from, six full hours after Red landed in Killeon, a snow planet deep within the Dardian quadrant, had been unoperational, but at least they had still managed to save the data logs. With some luck, those could be useful information for later.

They both hope it will be worth it.

The snowstorm was already bad when they had arrived. This planet doesn’t have much vegetation, but the little it does had been blowing strongly with the wind, powdered white from the flakes that fell from the sky.

Landing with Red closer to the base hadn’t been possible - there was a cave nearby that was ideal to keep her hidden. Leaving her out on the snow had seemed dangerous with a Galra base so close, and seeing as they didn’t currently have any support from the castle, they had decided to play it safe.

It was more or less a thirty minute walk from the cave to the Galra post, but after leaving the base, the snow had stopped and it was pouring rain, cold water with some ice on the mix, making the ground wet and sloshy.

And soaking both Keith and Lance to the bone.

They had taken thirty minutes just to get halfway to Red, and the paladin armor was starting to weigh on them, the black undersuit completely soaked. Fortunately, their wrist gauntlets are still working, to lead them the right way, because with all the snow and fog, they don’t see any further than a few meters.

“T-There. I see it.”

The outline of the caves appears slowly into focus, and they make an effort to walk faster.

Red opens her jaws right away as soon as they get there, urging them to get inside. The cockpit is unusually warm, an attempt to try and dry them up, but the or air comes up hot and almost suffocating on their face.

Lance collapses on the pilot seat, before ordering Red to go back home, and Keith stays behind him, on the floor, too exhausted to move.

-

Upon arrival, it all goes by in a numb haze. Dragging their feet, Lance and Keith make their way out of Red, and towards their respective bedrooms. Both get their soggy clothes off, dropping it off in a corner of their room to be washed later, take a quick warm shower and lay in bed, aching and exhausted.

They don’t actually get to sleep right away, because Shiro and Allura come back from their mission a while later. Fortunately, the post mission debriefing is quick and to the point. Everyone is tired and it’s late, so all of them shuffle to their own rooms to get some sleep.

-

Lance rolls over in bed, his sore muscles protesting as he moves.

It’s the middle of the night, he’s alone, and his sore throat is keeping him awake.

It feels like he swallowed sandpaper and broken glass. Lance coughs weakly into his elbow and sighs in frustration.

It was a long day, and exhaustion tugs away at him trying to pull him under.

But then another coughing fit brings him back up, doubling forward as something tickles again in the back of his throat.

His head aches with the effort, and when he’s finally able to stop coughing, his chest hurts as well.

He reaches for his bedside table, and turns the alarm towards him.

It’s seven AM, earth time, and the others would be up soon. Lance swallows painfully, and props himself up to stand and go out the door. There’s no point staying in bed if he can’t rest.

Walking feels even worse than laying down somehow. It’s harder to focus on keeping his feet moving, and his coordination is completely off. His muscles hurt, and it’s not easy to drag his limbs along when they feel like deadweights.

To his surprise, the lounge isn’t empty when he gets there, despite being so early. Coran is frantically opening and closing cabinets, with bundles of fabric in his arms.

“What’s goin’ on…?”

Coran looks behind his shoulder.

“Lance…” He trails off, clearly surprised. Lance isn’t sure why is presence is so unexpected, but Coran walks towards him with a worried look on his face. “Oh, I should have figured…”

Coran touches Lance’s forehead with the back of his hand. Lance closes his eyes, focusing on the cold feeling of Coran’s skin on his face.

“You’re ill as well… come on, let’s get you to the infirmary.”

“Sick…?” Lance questions, as Coran nudges his shoulder to guide him. Now that he thinks about it, he does feel warm.

“Well, after yesterday’s ordeal it doesn’t surprise me,” Coran explains, “and I should have known after I saw the state Keith was in… you were both in that planet after all.”

Lance frowns. “Wait… Keith? What’s going on with Keith?”

“Ah, don’t worry too much. He just woke up in the middle of the night with a high fever. Similar to the symptoms you seen to be having.”

Lance lowers his eyes. “Oh.”

Suddenly, he feels much weaker, and Coran has to steady him for a moment.

“Sorry,” he mumbles.

“It’s alright, lad. We’re almost there.”

Surely enough, there’s a bed set up in the infirmary, where Keith is curled up, shivering below a layer of blankets. Shiro sits on a chair by his side, rubbing Keith’s arms to warm him up.

“Coran,” Shiro calls out, “did you get more blankets?” Then he looks off to the side, noticing Lance with a surprised expression. “Are you sick too?”

Lance nods, hazy, and lets Coran guide him closer to the bed Keith lays in.

“Blankets,” Coran hands the bundles to Shiro, who in turn drapes them over Keith’s shivering form. Lance is gently pushed to another nearby mattress, and takes the opportunity to lie down.

“Ir seems that human bodies do not deal so well with cold,” Coran comments sadly, as he covers lance with a blanket as well.

Lance frowns, as he pulls the blanket closer to him. “We don’t deal that badly, that planet just sucks.”

Shiro sighs, hands still around Keith’s arms. “Well, it seems like you two just got a bad cold. Hopefully you’ll be okay within a few days.”

“Unless it turns to tonsillitis,” Lance adds with a mumble.

Shiro grimaces. “Hopefully not.”

-

When Lance wakes up again, his fever seems to be worse. He rolls over, his blanket kicked away in his sleep, and lifts his tshirt a little. His skin is sensitive and hot and sweaty, and his throat still hurts.

On the other bed, Keith looks asleep, no longer curling up beneath the sheet, but his flushed face is enough to tell that he’s got a fever too.

“Lance! Hey, you’re awake!”

It’s Hunk’s voice, to his right. He rolls over again, slowly, and sure enough, there he is, plopped on a chair with a tablet in his hands.

“How do you feel?”

Lance shrugs. “Not too good. I think my fever is higher now.”

Hunk frowns, and leans forward to touch lances forehead with the back of his hand.

“Yeah… it is,” he concludes, before getting up. “Try to drink some water,” he says, handing him a water pack with a straw, “I’ll go get Coran.”

Lance closes his eyes. With Hunk gone, there’s only the small breathing noises coming from Keith’s bed to break the silence.It’s relaxing somehow, so he lets himself being pulled back to sleep, water pack forgotten at his side.

*

It’s only a matter of time until the others move Keith and Lance to the living room.

“The sofas are big enough,” Hunk argues, “and we can check on them at the same time.”

No one disagreed, but Shiro and Pidge made sure to bring more pillows and blankets to make it extra comfortable.

Both od the paladins are wrapped in fluffy blankets, sleeping peacefully in opposite ends of the sofa, feet touching on the middle.

“I’ve already told Allura, and she’s going to stop by a peaceful solar system. With two of us down, it’s not a great idea leaving us vulnerable to any attack,” Shiro says.

“They look so peaceful,” Pidge comments with a sly smile.

*

“Achooo! Achoo! Ugh…”

Lance reaches out to pick up another tissue from the table. With an involuntary kick, he’s finally able to stretch enough, but he winces when his foot hits Keith’s side.

He hears an annoyed grunt coming from the bundle of blankets in front of him, and blows his nose, waiting for the inevitable complaining.

“Ow- Lance…” Keith says hoarsely. “Why did you just kick me!?”

It’s no secret for anyone this stupid cold is irritating Keith to no end, and Lance understands it better than anyone. Even though Keith did spend more time in the cold, and maybe being prone to migraines absolutely sucks in this situation, but Lance feels miserable too. Having Keith snap at every little thing is really getting in his nerves. He can’t help being sick!

But happy about his circumstances or not, he’s stuck here with Keith, at least for a few days. If he can keep each other’s presence amicable, Lance will at least make an effort.

“Ugh, Keith… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

“Could you be more careful then?? I’m trying to sleep.”

Lance rolls his eyes and puts the tissue away.

“Yeah, yeah… go back to sleep.”

Lance rolls over and buries his head on the pillow, hunching over his shoulders to keep the blankets closer. His throat burns all the way up to the back of his mouth, and a slight brush of the covers against his nose is enough to-

“Aaa..choo!”

“Lance!!”

*

“Oooh, what’s that you’re making?”

Hunk turns his head to see Pidge curiously slipping into the kitchen. He puts down the spoon, and grabs a sharp knife and some white fruits from under the cabinet, placing them on the counter, ready to cut.

“Oh, you know… since we’ll be stuck here for a while, I figured I’d experiment a little with the some of those fruits they offered us in Arus… and Lance and Keith look like they need some nice broth, to get their energies back and all that,” he explains with a gentle smile, as he expertly cuts the white fruit on the cutting board, and sweeps the pieces down to fall inside the bowl.

“Cool.” Pidge jumps up to sit on the counter. “Find out anything remotely close to garlic yet?”

“Nah,” Hunk sighs, “that’s gonna be a hard one… also-”

He turns around, slipping a baker glove on his hand and opens the oven, taking out a tray with some pink cookies.

“They finished baking a few minutes ago, though the tray is still hot. Taste one.”

Pidge frowns a little, but takes one and tries it.

“I know it’s pink, but I think I may have figured these out.”

Her eyes brighten, and she looks up at him.

“Gingerbread?”

“Not really, but it tastes close, right? Lance loves gingerbread. I know Keith prefers cinnamon, but we don’t really have that here… maybe he’ll enjoy these when he’s feeling better. I got another batch coming up anyway, so you can keep those.”

“Awesome! Thank you, Hunk!”

“No problem!” Hunk smiles, as he picks up the cookies from the tray, one by one, hissing when they burned tips of his fingers, and putting them on a plate. “I’m gonna see if those two have killed each other already.”

Pidge chuckles, still chewing on her cookie. “Lance is whiny as heck, and Keith is a thousand times grumpier than usual,” she says, “good luck.”

*

“So how are you two feeling?”

Hunk sits down next to Lance’s legs, and places the plate of cookies on the edge of the sofa. Despite looking terrible, both Lance and Keith seem at least intrigued by the cookies, and gingerly roll out of the sofa to get one.

Lance suddenly grips his cookie tighter and squints at the lights.

“A - Achooo! Ugh…”

Hunk watches as he pitifuly scrambles for another tissue, and doesn’t miss the way Keith groans.

“My throat hurts from sneezing,” Lance says, after blowing his nose once again.

“My head hurts from his sneezing,” Keith complains, burying himself deeper in his blanket, chewing on his cookie.

“Wha- Keith!!”

“You’re loud.”

“At least your fever is gone, right…?” Hunk asks with a forced smile, adjusting the blanket around Lance’s feet.

“No.”

“I think it’s coming back.”

Lance goes back to his reclined position on the sofa, leaning against a pillow. Keith reaches for the plate once again, and takes another cookie.

“These are really good,” he says quietly, his voice low and raspy.

“That’s not fair, I can’t even taste them…!” Lance pouts, “they feel crispy though…”

Hunk laughs. “I finally got the oven temperature right… you’ll be able to taste them soon enough,” he says, patting Lance’s leg.

*

“Keith…?”

No answer.

His fever wasn’t so bad during the day, and with the others keeping him company and distracting him, it was actually bearable.

But now it’s dark, and everyone is sleeping, and Lance cannot stop shivering.

He has three blankets on top of him, which he’s hugging close, and Pidge had even brought his jacket for him to dress, just in case. But even in his pajamas and the jacket, he can‘t get comfortable.

And, admittedly, he does feel bad for trying to wake Keith. He’s sick too, and needs to rest, even though he spent most of his day sleeping…

Eh, it’s still bad.

But Lance stands up anyway, blinking away the black spots at the edge of his vision, hugging the blankets around his shoulders.

Keith lays close to the back of the sofa, leaving enough space Lance to sit down next to him.

He gives his shoulder a light shake, but he doesn’t wake.

He’s not too warm, at least, which is a good change from his feverish state during the day, but that also means he’s getting his needed rest after all that.

Lance shivers again.

He shakes Keith again.

“Hm…? What - Lance.”

Keith groans.

“What do you want…?”

He doesn’t sound mad, just tired. Rolling over, he lays on his stomach with his head on his arms, and stares at Lance, squinting.

“H-Hey man… sorry for waking you up…”

“You’re shivering,” Keith notices. “You should be in bed.”

“That’s the thing, I, uh… it’s cold. Can I lay here?”

Keith only stares back in silence for a moment.

““With me…?”

“Ugh, yes. I can’t warm up at all on my own, and you’ve been pretty much behaving as a furnace the whole day…”

Keith doesn’t interrupt his rambling, much to Lance’s surprise. Like before, he’s probably too tired for that now. He sighs, and scoots over a little.

“If you steal my blankets, you’re out.”


End file.
